Free standing screen protective barrier

ABSTRACT

A free-standing screen or barrier is provided to separate persons on opposed sides and includes a panel portion and two parallel leg portions having vertical slots for attachment of the leg portions transversely across the panel portion so that the bottom edges of the leg portion and of the panel portion engage a support surface and cooperate to maintain the panel portion in the upstanding orientation. The panel portion includes a light weight flexible transparent shield and two sheets of stiffening corrugate plastics sheet material coplanar with and sandwiching the transparent shield so as to cover a lower part of the transparent shield leaving an upper part of the transparent shield for viewing. A bottom slot allows material to be transferred. The corrugated plastic includes a bottom strip and two upstanding leg strips which cooperate with the leg portions to hold the screen upright.

This invention relates to a free-standing screen or barrier which can bemounted on a surface such as a desk, table or counter to provide anupstanding shield to separate a person on one side from a person on theother such as a customer from a clerk so as to reduce transfer ofcontaminants between the two.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

It is currently required due to disease transmission to provide a shieldbetween two persons meeting at a counter such as in a retail outlet.Often these shields are forged of acrylic so that they are heavy andstructural so as to require metal brackets to hold them in place. Thisis of course intended to be a permanent structure. In other cases it isdesired to separate such persons but at a location where a permanentstructure may not be desirable or may need to be moved as the locationis set up differently.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

It is an object of the present invention to provide a free-standingscreen which is simple and inexpensive so as to avoid the permanentmetal structures so that it can be quickly and easily deployed whenrequired to provide the necessary separation.

According to the invention there is provided a free-standingscreen/barrier for mounting on a horizontal support surface and forseparation of persons on opposed sides of the screen comprising:

-   -   panel portion defining a first component which can be located in        an upstanding orientation with a lower edge supported on the        surface;    -   at least one leg portion comprising a second component arranged        for attachment to the panel portion so as to extend transversely        to the panel portion;    -   said at least one leg portion having a lower edge for engaging        the surface so that the lower edge of the leg portion and the        lower edge of the panel portion cooperate to maintain the panel        portion in the upstanding orientation;    -   the panel portion comprising:        -   a transparent shield;        -   a base sheet portion coplanar with and bonded to the            transparent shield so as to cover a lower part of the            transparent shield leaving an upper part of the transparent            shield for viewing therethrough.

Preferably in one embodiment the base sheet portion comprises twooverlying sheets of a corrugated material with the transparent shieldsandwiched there between. However, a single sheet on one side canprovide sufficient stiffness to support the flexibility of the shieldand attach to the leg portions.

Preferably in one embodiment the sheets are formed of a corrugatedplastics material. However other sheet material can be used such ascorrugated cardboard.

Preferably in one embodiment the panel portion has a cut out at thebottom edge to allow passage of materials such as money through the cutout from one side to the other side. However, the cut out can beeliminated or can be a slot at a position spaced from the bottom edge.

Preferably in one embodiment the transparent shield has a bottom edgespaced upwardly from the bottom edge of the panel portion and preferablyabove the cut out. This reduces the amount of the material for theshield which is require and avoids forming the cut out in the shielditself.

Preferably in one embodiment the base sheet portion has a bottom stripacross the panel portion at the bottom edge and at least one leg stripstanding upwardly into the upper part of the transparent shield.Preferably the leg strip attaches to the leg portion. Preferably thereare two parallel transversely spaced leg strips each attached to arespective one of two leg portion where the two parallel leg strips arespaced inwardly from side edge of the transparent shield. This providesa support at each side of the shield for good stability. However, asingle center leg arrangement can be used or multiple legs can be usedin shield of increased width.

Preferably in one embodiment the two parallel leg strips are spaceddownwardly from a top edge of the transparent shield since this providesa full uninterrupted part of the shield at the top for viewing of thepersons across the shield without non-transparent barriers at the facearea. The legs have a length from the base sufficient to providestiffness to the shield which otherwise can be sufficiently flexible andthin so that it is not self supporting. This provides a structure whichis thin, light weight, inexpensive as it uses minimum materials but hasenough stiffness and stability to be self supporting on a horizontalsupport surface such as a desk or counter without other attachment tothe surface

Preferably in one embodiment the bottom strip of the stiffening sheetportion extends to a height above a top edge of a cut out at the bottomedge. In this way the whole of the cut out is contained within the basestrip and the shield can extend to a bottom edge at or adjacent the cutout while the bottom edge portion of the shield of for example 0.5 to2.0 inch is sandwiched in the base sheet portion and thus held stable.

Preferably in one embodiment the panel portion has a vertical slotextending upwardly from the bottom edge and the leg portion has avertical slot extending from a top downwardly so that the leg portioncan slide into the slot of the panel portion to connect the leg portionto the panel portion at a right angle thereto. This arrangementtherefore uses a cooperating slot portion to form a three-dimensionalstructure from the two-dimensional parts so that they can be supplied inflat pack form. In this way the panel portion and the leg portion areplanar and when connected lie at right angles. However other connectingarrangements other than the slot interconnection can also be used toattach the leg portions to the panel portion.

Preferably in one embodiment the transparent shield is formed of a thinflexible plastics material such as a clear 0.5 mm PETG material. Othermaterials such as polycarbonate can be used. Also other thicknesses canbe used ranging from 0.2mm to 2mm. The construction herein allows theshield itself to be very thin and light weight thus also reducing therequired strength of the components to hold it vertical. This allows asimplified structure relative to the conventional acrylic structureswhich generally may require metal supports to hold the acrylic shieldvertical and stable. The light weight structure can thus be selfsupporting and easily portable.

The Physical Barrier proposed for this option was specifically designedfor manufacturability and portability. The simple design of the barriersmakes it possible to be produced very efficiently.

The barriers designed are made out of two parts. The barrier part ismade out of the clear 0.5 mm PETG material that is sandwiched betweentwo layers of 4 mm corrugated plastics, such as coroplast (trademark).The support legs are made of the same 4 mm corrugated material.

The arrangement herein can provide the following advantages:

-   -   Economical: The material cost as well as production cost is        significantly lower than the traditional acrylic barriers;    -   Safer: The light weight, yet sturdy, material used makes these        barriers safer as they will not cause any harm or injury if they        happen to tip and fall over;    -   Material Availability: The 0.5 mm PETG material as well as the 4        mm coroplast are readily available as the are commonly used for        other products;    -   Fully Automated Production which permits efficient production of        large quantities in a short period of time    -   Easily Recyclable where the two types of plastic used to make        these barriers are fully recyclable (PET-group 1 and PP-group        5).

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

One embodiment of the invention will now be described in conjunctionwith the accompanying drawings in which:

FIG. 1 is an isometric view of the assembled shield according to thepresent invention.

FIG. 2 is a cross-sectional view along the lines 2-2 of FIG. 1

FIG. 3 is a cross-sectional view along the lines 3-3 of FIG. 1

FIG. 4 is a plan view of one base sheet portion of the panel portion ofthe assembled shield of FIG. 1.

FIG. 5 is a plan view of the thin transparent shield of the panelportion of the assembled shield of FIG. 1.

FIG. 6 is a plan view of one leg portion of the assembled shield of FIG.1.

In the drawings like characters of reference indicate correspondingparts in the different figures.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION

The free-standing screen/barrier is shown in FIG. 1 and is arranged formounting on a horizontal support surface to separate persons on opposedsides of the screen.

The assembled structure is formed of three parts which can be suppliedin flat pack form as flat sheets. These include a panel portion 11 andtwo legs 12 and 13. The parts are connected together on site to providea stable structure which can stand upright on the support surface (notshown).

The panel portion 11 defines a first component which can be located inan upstanding orientation with a lower edge 15 supported on the surface.

The leg portions 12, 13 define second components arranged for attachmentto the panel portion 11 so as to extend at a right angle to the panelportion where the leg portions 12, 13 have a lower edge 15A for engagingthe surface so that the lower edge of the leg portion and the lower edgeof the panel portion cooperate to maintain the panel portion in theupstanding orientation.

The panel portion is formed prior to shipping to the site with atransparent shield 20, having side edges 21, a top edge 22 and a bottomedge 23 forming a generally rectangular shield to stand in front of theperson on the counter.

The panel portion 11 further includes two parallel base sheets 25 and 26laminated together to form a common base sheet portion 27 coplanar withand bonded to the transparent shield 20 so as to cover a lower part ofthe transparent shield leaving an upper part of the transparent shieldfor viewing therethrough. The3 shield 20 is this sandwiched between theportions 25 and 26 as a common integrated structure.

The base sheet portion 27 thus comprises two overlying sheets 25, 26 ofa corrugated material with the transparent shield sandwichedtherebetween.

The panel portion has a cut out 16 which is typically a slot shape withside edge 17 and a horizontal top edge 18 located at the bottom edge 15to allow passage of materials through the cut out across the counterfrom one side to the other side.

The transparent shield 20 has the bottom edge 23 spaced upwardly fromthe bottom edge 15 of the panel portion 11 so that the bottom edge 23 ofthe transparent shield is above the cut out 16.

The base sheet portion 27 defined by the laminated sheets 25 and 26 hasa bottom strip 28 across the full width of the panel portion at thebottom edge 15 and two upstanding leg strips 29, 30 standing upwardlyinto the upper part of the transparent shield 20 allowing the leg twostrips 29, 30 to attach to the leg portion 12, 13.

The two parallel leg strips 29 and 30 are spaced inwardly from sideedges 21, 22 of the transparent shield 20 and are spaced downwardly fromthe top edge 22 of the transparent shield.

The bottom strip 28 extends to a height at a top edge 32 above the topedge 18 of the cut out 16.

The panel portion and the leg portions are connected by inter-engagingslot arrangements. Thus, the panel portion 11 as defined by the basesheets 25 and 26 and the shield 20 each have a vertical slot 40 shown inthe flat form in FIGS. 4 and 5 extending upwardly from the bottom edge.Thus, the leg portions has a vertical slot 41 extending from a top edgedownwardly so that the leg portions 12, 13 can slide into the slots 40of the panel portion to connect the leg portions 13 to the panel portionat a right angle thereto.

Since various modifications can be made in my invention as herein abovedescribed, and many apparently widely different embodiments of same madewithin the spirit and scope of the claims without department from suchspirit and scope, it is intended that all matter contained in theaccompanying specification shall be interpreted as illustrative only andnot in a limiting sense.

Claims:
 1. A free-standing screen for mounting on a horizontal supportsurface and for separation of persons on opposed sides of the screencomprising: panel portion defining a first component which can belocated in an upstanding orientation with a lower edge supported on thesurface; at least one leg portion comprising a second component arrangedfor attachment to the panel portion so as to extend transversely to thepanel portion; said at least one leg portion having a lower edge forengaging the surface so that the lower edge of the leg portion and thelower edge of the panel portion cooperate to maintain the panel portionin the upstanding orientation; the panel portion comprising: atransparent shield; a base sheet portion coplanar with and bonded to thetransparent shield so as to cover a lower part of the transparent shieldleaving an upper part of the transparent shield for viewingtherethrough.
 2. The free-standing screen according to claim 1 whereinthe base sheet portion comprises two overlying sheets of a corrugatedmaterial with the transparent shield sandwiched therebetween.
 3. Thefree-standing screen according to claim 2 wherein the sheets are formedof a corrugated plastics material.
 4. The free-standing screen accordingto claim 1 wherein the panel portion has a cut out at the bottom edge toallow passage of materials through the cut out from one side to theother side.
 5. The free-standing screen according to claim 1 wherein thetransparent shield has a bottom edge spaced upwardly from the bottomedge of the panel portion.
 6. The free-standing screen according toclaim 5 wherein the bottom edge of the transparent shield has the bottomedge above the cut out.
 7. The free-standing screen according to claim 1wherein the base sheet portion has a bottom strip across the panelportion at the bottom edge and at least one leg strip standing upwardlyinto the upper part of the transparent shield.
 8. The free-standingscreen according to claim 7 wherein the leg strip attaches to the legportion.
 9. The free-standing screen according to claim 8 wherein thereare two parallel transversely spaced leg strips each attached to arespective leg portion.
 10. The free-standing screen according to claim9 wherein the two parallel leg strips are spaced inwardly from side edgeof the transparent shield.
 11. The free-standing screen according toclaim 9 wherein the two parallel leg strips are spaced downwardly from atop edge of the transparent shield.
 12. The free-standing screenaccording to claim 7 wherein the bottom strip extends to a height abovea top edge of a cut out at the bottom edge to allow passage of materialsthrough the cut out from one side to the other side
 13. Thefree-standing screen according to claim 1 wherein the panel portion hasa vertical slot extending upwardly from the bottom edge and the legportion has a vertical slot extending from a top downwardly so that theleg portion can slide into the slot of the panel portion to connect theleg portion to the panel portion at a right angle thereto.
 14. Thefree-standing screen according to claim 13 wherein the panel portion andthe leg portion are planar and when connected lie at right angles. 15.The free-standing screen according to claim 1 wherein the transparentshield is formed of a thin flexible plastics material.
 16. Thefree-standing screen according to claim 1 wherein the transparent shieldis formed from clear 0.5 mm PETG material.